Frank Denton: Another step toward a new Jacksonville

Fri, Dec 20, 2013 @ 5:41 pm
| updated Mon, Dec 23, 2013 @ 5:59 pm

The growing pains have been all over the newspaper and Jacksonville.com — in news stories, editorials, letters, comments, op-eds and Rants — but in the end, this city took a big step toward maturity last week.

Fifty-four years after honoring a slave trader and Ku Klux Klan leader by naming a public school after him — just to spite desegregation — and five years after voting 5-2 on racial lines to keep that name, the Duval County School Board finally moved into the 21st century by relegating the name to history, unanimously.

You’ve seen me write here several times about “building the new Jacksonville,” and the board’s 7-0 vote was one more mark of progress — and not just a fix, but a real statement.

Some old-timers call my optimism about progress naïve; I write their pessimism off to cynicism.

Consider these advances reported by — and informed and sometimes even inspired by — The Times-Union in the last couple of years:

Jacksonville elected its first black mayor, a Democrat at that, and the city embraced and learned from “Race: Does It Matter?,” a provocative exhibit at the Museum of Science and History.

When that mayor failed to deliver a constructive budget in the face of presumably hostile taxpayers, the City Council stood up and developed its own — requiring a modest tax increase, which it then approved against a mentality of no-tax-increases-anytime-for-anything.

The public did its grown-up part by understanding the tax increase and eschewing the tar and feathers and even angry outbursts. Citizens chose quality of life.

The voters also elected a hard-working, thoughtful school board to work with the new young, visionary superintendent committed to change and quality.

New leaders and remarkable collaborations emerged among the city’s non-profits and arts organizations, and major companies appointed senior executives to work purely on corporate social responsibility.

Downtown development seems to be moving beyond serial master plans. The Laura Street Trio is happening. The long-vacant Haydon Burns Library will become the Jessie Ball duPont Center for non-profit organizations. Riverside Avenue is blooming with construction, and Riverside/Avondale is booming with restaurants and nightlife. One Spark electrified the town, and will again in April.

Are you seeing a pattern? How about a reality check.

James B. Crooks, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Florida, has the big-picture, long-term perspective of a scholar of 20th century urban history who has watched the fits and starts of Jacksonville since he came here 41 years ago.

Am I being naively optimistic, Dr. Crooks?

“That depends on whether I’m in an optimistic mood or a skeptical mood. I’m optimistic today because of what the school board did.

“But we’ve gone down this road half a dozen times before — consolidation, the Jaguars, the Riverwalk, Jacksonville Landing. Then every time, something comes along to undermine it, sometimes a recession, an oil-price spike. Different things have sabotaged the mood of optimism.

“At the same time, I’d like to agree with you. The school board used to be notorious for its stupidity. The other night, each of them spoke, and they all made sense. Between Dr. Vitti and the school board, we’ve got really strong leadership in education for the first time in my 40 years here. I’m optimistic about the school system.

“And about the non-profits in our community. We have so many excellent non-profits. They’re providing the kind of leadership that will percolate into politics and business.”

Crooks said a big test is whether the City Council finally will approve an expansion of the city human rights ordinance to include lesbians and gays. “When the HRO passes, I’ll be a little more optimistic.”

On that and other issues, he said, “My caution is in the mayor’s office. I don’t know what to make of Alvin Brown. Right now, not much. But I watched his predecessor grow into a strong mayor, and before him, John Delaney was very strong. The mayor has the bully pulpit. If he just speaks platitudes, it doesn’t mean much.

“A major challenge is for the business community to become more progressive. You see the start of it with some of the banks getting involved in the community and the hospitals working together. And people like Steve Halverson (CEO of the Haskell Company) who’ve provided leadership on social issues.

“But the business people haven’t come together on downtown. They’re supporting it, but not putting money into it.”

Well, Dr. Crooks, I didn’t say we are where we want to be, just that I’m optimistic we’re off to a good start.

Come back next week, and I’ll fill you in on the 2014 coverage and editorial priorities of the Times-Union and Jacksonville.com. Hint: We’ll be looking for far more progress.